On March 21, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Border guards anticipate an increase in queues of freight vehicles exiting Belarus at the "Urbany" border crossing point in the Braslav district by the upcoming weekend and recommend that carriers consider alternative routes if possible, Denis Glebko, Assistant Head of the Polotsk Border Guard Detachment for Media Relations, told a BELTA correspondent. Due to the closure of the "Grigorovshchina" international border crossing point on the Belarusian-Latvian border for freight vehicles from March 15 for reconstruction, queues of trucks have started to form approaching the "Urbany" border crossing point in the Braslav district. By the end of the working week, they typically increase significantly. For instance, if on Tuesday, March 20, there were about 200 vehicles in the queue for exit, by Friday their number may more than double, as it happened last weekend when nearly 500 vehicles accumulated on the approach to the border crossing point. According to Denis Glebko, the vehicle queues on the Belarusian-Latvian section are also due to the fact that foreign carriers can freely import diesel fuel through Latvia, while Poland has restrictions on its import. The suspension of freight traffic through the "Grigorovshchina" border crossing point will last until October 15, 2012. This is due to the performance of construction and installation works. During this period, the border crossing point will be intended only for the movement of buses and passenger vehicles with a total weight of up to 3.5 tonnes, carrying goods for personal use. For crossing the Belarusian-Latvian border, the State Customs Committee recommends that persons engaged in international freight transport use, in addition to the "Urbany-Silene" road border crossing point, the Russian border crossing point "Burachki-Terekhovo", including when travelling to European Union countries, and other border crossing points located on the Belarusian section of the external border of the Customs Union. -0-

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